Cherry Soup
Cherry SoupSima Herzfeld

While Rabbinical lore, promotes dining on meat and wine on the Sabbath and Holidays- as a means to elevating the joy of the day,  it is actually preferable to eat dairy on Shavuot.  Traditional Jewish foods for Shavuot include the Hungarian blintz, stuffed with sweet and sour delicacies, and of course, the obligatory cheese cake for dessert.  While blintzes are an extremely time consuming dish to make, not all delicious foods need to be labor intensive.  To stay with the Hungarian theme, I recommend No-Work Chilled Hungarian Cherry Soup as a first course.
Hungarian Cherry Soup is very appropriate for Israel at this time of year as we are now at the peak of our very short lived cherry season.  Should you have your own cherry tree, have willing child labor, or just enjoy pitting the cherries yourself, then definitely make a cherry soup from scratch.  If the above conditions do not apply to you, then follow the easy and delicious short-cut recipe below.
I like to serve this dish for lunch, it makes an easy transition for groggy people (who stayed awake all night studying) to start their day.  Likewise, this dish can be used as an easy, gluten-free dessert.
Ingredients:
  1. 2  jars pitted sour cherries, with their juice. (1.5 kilo)  OR 1.5 kilo fresh red cherries, stemmed and pitted.
  2. 1 tsp cinnamon or allspice
  3. 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  4. 1 container of cream, 15% (or 1 cup soy milk)
  5. 1/4 cup Emerald Riesling (optional)
  6. Add the wine and the jars of cherries, with their juice, to a soup tureen.   In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and 1⁄4 cup of cherry liquid and the spices.  Chill the soup.  Serve cold.
If you are using fresh cherries, stem and pit the cherries, cook them in a saucepan with 4 cups of water, a pinch of salt,  and 1/4 cup of sugar, for thirty minutes or until soft.  Add the cream, wine,  and spices, and refrigerate for four hours.
SERVES 4 – 6
Tip:  Refrigerate the jars of cherries and then combine the ingredients before serving.
Sima Herzfeld is a Nutritional Healer and she teaches Healthy Cooking Classes.